OEM LEADERS IN PUMP OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

Two key issues are central to the turnaround of underperforming water and wastewater infrastructure within municipalities, namely proactive asset management, along with a well planned and executed operations and maintenance (O&M) regime. IMIESA speaks to John Montgomery, general manager for APE Pumps and sister entity Mather+Platt (the Group) about how their turnkey OEM solutions are making a difference.

Asnapshot of the statistics published in the Department of Water & Sanitation’s 2022 Green Drop Report on the state of wastewater treatment plants shows that only a few municipalities were able to obtain Green Drop Certification during their 2021 assessment. The latter is a biennial incentive-based regulatory programme designed to set a benchmark for non-negotiable compliance in the interests of the environment, industry, and society.

The audit process covered 995 wastewater networks and treatment works. Only 23 attained Green Drop Certification, meeting the minimum 90 percent scoring requirement to qualify. The remainder were in a wide band, with 102 systems scoring below 31% and thus red flagged for intervention.

Proactive versus reactive

“The results do send a clear message that the need for proactive O&M has never been more critical,” says Montgomery. “While there are exemplary treatment plants out there, the balance are in crisis mode due to various contributing factors that include a shortage of inhouse engineering capacity, inadequate skills, as well as reactive maintenance.”

Central to everything are the plant pump systems. “When these go down, the result is a breakdown in the process chain that results in pump stations and treatment works becoming overwhelmed by incoming effluent. Even the best pumps available worldwide – which we design and manufacture as a Proudly South African company – will fail if routine maintenance and scheduled upgrades are neglected,” Montgomery continues.

“This is not a lightly made observation, because we’ve been in the South African pump business since 1952, and a high percentage of the installed population across municipalities and utilities nationally are either APE Pumps and/ or Mather+Platt systems, and the same applies for private industry. Our asset management system shows that many are still functioning some 71 years later.”

“In fact, with effective maintenance they’re designed to work for many lifespans. However, along with expert system matching and utilisation, correct installation is essential to ensure pumps are rock-steady on their footings irrespective of their size. That’s a common cause of pump failures.”

Budget constraints present opportunities for O&M

At times, private sector investors have stepped in to help municipalities restore local water and wastewater treatment plants to bridge local government budget constraints and alleviate a crisis. Here APE Pumps and Mather+Platt have been contracted to repair existing pumps or replace them with Group products in various towns across South Africa.

It’s a short-term solution. However, as Montgomery points out, it could form the basis for an evolving public private partnership (PPP) model that would be a gamechanger for the future of the public sector water and wastewater landscape, where utilities can outsource to OEM contractors – and cap costs – but remain in full control of their operations. Allied to this, there are the associated benefits of OEM training and skills transfer for municipal personnel.

“In most instances, though, PPPs in this sector are going to be few and far between for municipal utilities where private investors don’t have a bankable guarantee. So, the best approach overall is to ensure that municipal plants have their own world class skills and support in place, together with a sustainable and financially sound service delivery model,” Montgomery continues.

The importance of SLAs

The Group’s response has been to offer service level agreements (SLAs) that enable private and public clients to outsource O&M on APE Pumps and Mather+Platt systems. Irrespective of their age and condition, most if not all Group pumps can be restored – not just to their original standard –but with incorporated technological upgrades.

ABOUT APE PUMPS AND MATHER+PLATT

Part of the WPIL Limited multinational group, APE Pumps designs, fabricates, installs, and commissions single and multistage pump solutions for most industry sectors in South Africa and Africa. These include municipal water and wastewater treatment works, complex and custom pump setups for leading water utilities, the power generation sector, agriculture, petroleum, and general industry. In parallel, Mather+Platt has its own purpose-designed pump systems in these and allied sectors, with a proud legacy that can be traced back to Britain’s First Industrial Revolution in the 19th Century.

Supporting these endeavours is an ongoing investment in new fabrication machinery and cutting-edge investments in 3D scanning technology. The latter provides unprecedented precision for the Group’s engineering and technical teams in determining exact tolerances for new pump designs and retrofits. In the latter respect, the Group has a blueprint of every pump it’s ever produced, so a 1952 product can easily be restored and upgraded to meet most modern requirements.

Design and engineering services

An allied investment in 3D design and simulation software further allows the Group’s engineers to walk through new and proposed refurbishment projects with clients and their professional consultants.

Recent contract examples include an extensive overhaul of Umgeni Water’s Verulam and La Mercy Pump Station – forming part of the Hazelmere Water Treatment Works (WTW) system – to cater for future network expansion. In addition to the refurbishment of the seven existing pumps, two additional APE vertical turbine centrifugal units were added. The scope of works also included electrical, mechanical and instrumentation repairs and upgrades, and the addition of a SCADA system.

“While we have a standard range, our true expertise is in designing, fabricating, and installing fit-for-purpose solutions that optimise fluid transfer in the most energy efficient manner – a pressing need now due to loadshedding and ensuing ‘water and wastewater shedding’, backed by our 8ME contractor registration with the Construction Industry Development Board,” adds Montgomery.

“Our ultimate goal is to revisit each of the hundreds of APE and Mather+Platt pumps installed across South Africa in the past seven decades and to assist private and public sector clients to bring them back to modern-day OEM specification. When the next Green Drop audit comes around, we want our clients to be ready,” Montgomery concludes.

www.apepumps.co.za

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